This invention relates to electrical connector assemblies, and more particularly to plug and socket assemblies.
In many applications, such as in capacitive fuel-gauging systems, it is necessary to make several connections to a piece of electrical apparatus or equipment (such as, for example, a fuel-gauging probe) with a number of different electrical cables. In order to ensure that the correct cable is connected to the correct element on the electrical equipment, the cables and equipment are provided with cooperating connector elements which can only be engaged with the correct element on the other part. This has been done in the past by means of the bayonet type of connector in which the contact element on one part is in the form of one or more axial pins within a cylindrical outer sleeve; the contact element on the other part being in the form of mating female sockets similarly provided within an outer sleeve. The outer sleeve on one part is provided with a number of radially-projecting pegs that engage with cooperating recesses on the inner surface of the other sleeve. The two parts are locked by pushing together and rotating so that strain on the cable acts on the pegs and will not pull the two parts away from one another.
The above connectors have the disadvantage that they are relatively expensive to make and that, because they require to be locked by relative rotation, they can be difficult to use in inaccessible locations.